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Big Business
Big Business are a heavy metal band originating from Seattle, Washington, USA and now residing in Los Angeles, California, USA since 2006. Originally a bass-and-drum duo founded by Jared Warren (Karp, The Whip) and Coady Willis (Dead Low Tide, The Murder City Devils) this band has also incorporated guitarists into their studio and live lineups, at times becoming a trio and even a quartet. They are known for their sludgy yet melodic sound incorporating massive low-end tones, dynamic drums and Jared's catchy, melodic vocal tones. While they've often been cited as sludge metal the members have dismissed the terminology. Since their formation in 2003 the band has composed five studio albums, gaining early critical acclaim from signing to Hydra Head Records and frequent touring with Melvins (A band both core members also played in), coming into their own as a top-notch modern sludge/stoner act with recent releases on their own Gold Metal Records imprint. History Formation and Seattle (2003 - 2005) Big Business formed in February 2003 in Seattle by Jared Warren and Coady Willis. Both members at the time of formation were working bars in Seattle and didn't have bands they were actively playing in at the time so the duo began to work together as they "needed some fun in a big way".Joyful Noise Putting out their first demo entitled Tour E.P. 1 in collaboration with Wantage USA the band began playing out in the Seattle and Olympia area, sharing the stage with the likes of Melvins, Mudhoney, Dwarves and High on Fire among others.Last.fm That same year on 10 November 2004, after signing with Hydra Head Records on 4 August, the band released their debut album Head For The Shallow to critical praise. The band would tour heavily throughout 2005, sharing the stage with the likes of These Arms Are Snakes and Pelican before beginning the next year touring alongside High on Fire in the early 2006 leg of their Blessed Black Wings tour. New songs would be composed and eventually released that same year as Tour E.P. II but a major change came to the band that same year. Here Come The Waterworks and Mind The Drift (2006 - 2010) Big Business would begin recording their second album in July of 2006 but a few months beforehand both members relocated from Seattle to Los Angeles upon meeting and joining The Melvins as respective bassist and second drummer. This second album was recorded back-to-back with the Melvins album (A) Senile Animal before both bands embarked on an extensive tour of the United States and Europe that year. Big Business' second studio album Here Comes The Waterworks was released on 6 March 2007 to critical praise, with a release party at All Star Lanes with Qui. The band had worked with David Scott Stone on the record with the intent of him touring but ultimately things fell through, with Dale Crover performing guitar with the band on some live dates at this point.Ground Control Magazine via YouTubegroundcontrolmag.com Presents: Big Business, accessed 9 November 2017 With further touring to follow eventually Totomoshi musician and producer Toshi Kasai would join the group in April 2008, morphing Big Business into a trio.Lambgoat The band would work through a host of trials and tribulations in recording and constant touring but eventually finish their third album by January 2009.Lambgoat Mind The Drift was released on 31 March 2009 to positive reviews and a full tour of the USA alongside Tweak Bird in support. In the meantime the band would work on a third record with Melvins and eventually add a second guitarist in Scott Martin on 10 August 2010, further morphing the band's sound and making them a quartet.Lambgoat Battlefields Forever (2011 - 2015) Now as a four-piece the band would evolve their sounds further, live and in studio, eventually composing the hook-laden Quadruple Single and releasing it on their own imprint Gold Metal Records in 2011. However this incarnation of Big Business would be short-lived as Toshi Kasai would depart from the group the next year, reverting them to a trio. The next year the band would hold a press conference exclaiming the bands fourth album Battlefields Forever, released on 31 October 2013 via Gold Metal,Press Conference via Gold Metal RecordsBattlefields Forever Advertisement an album that saw critical praise. The trio would keep to the road with this lineup until Martin would amicably part in 2014, reverting Big Business back to the iconic duo they had initially formed. Two studio outtakes would see release the next year in the form of True Gold. Command Your Weather (2016 - Present) 2016 would be a triumphant and trying year for the band as one tour would be canceled for medical reasons while at the same time that summer the group released their fifth album (And first in nearly a decade as a duo) Command Your Weather via Gold Metal and Joyful Noise. In an interview with Vice, Coady Willis described the reversion to a duo as "back to a two-piece again felt like we really pulled together and did something good. We felt hopeful at the same time. We were really excited about it, and it felt like a new beginning.".Noisey.ViceBig Business Are Still Wise, Still Silly, and Still Not a Sludge Band, accessed 10 November 2017 In 2017 and announced for a 2018 release the group is releasing a vinyl box set entitled Solid Gold Metal, featuring the first three albums and all three tour EPs along with new artwork and liner notes. The band has since followed with the Summer Safari tour in 2017, followed by a West Coast USA tour in 2018 and a fourth tour EP in the works. On 30 January 2019 just before a tour with Clutch the band would announced their sixth album The Beast You Are with a 12 April release via Joyful Noise.Big Business Facebook Discography Albums * Head For The Shallow (2004, Hydra Head) * Here Come The Waterworks (2007, Hydra Head) * Mind The Drift (2009, Hydra Head) * Battlefields Forever (2013, Gold Metal) * Command Your Weather (2016, Gold Metal / Joyful Noise) * The Beast You Are (2019, Gold Metal / Joyful Noise) EPs / Singles * Tour E.P. I (2004, Wantage USA) * Tour E.P. II (2006, Wantage USA) * Tour E.P. III (2008, Wantage USA) * Biz Bot Remixes (2009, Hydra Head) * Quadruple Single (2011, Gold Metal) * Battlefields (2012, Gold Metal) * Blacker Holes (2014, Joyful Noise; 2015, Gold Metal as "True Gold") * Tour E.P. IV (2018, Gold Metal) Misc. Releases * Solid Gold Metal: 2004 - 2009 (2018, Joyful Noise) Members Current Members * Jared Warren - Bass, Vocals (2003 - Present) * Coady Willis - Drums, Vocals (2003 - Present) Former Members * David Scott Stone - Session Guitar (2007) * Toshi Kasai - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals (2008 - 2012) * Scott Martin - Guitar, Vocals (2010 - 2014) * Dale Crover - Live Guitar, Vocals (2007 - 2008) Tours * Spring 2005 Tour (With These Arms Are Snakes, Oxes) (2005)Lambgoat * Pelican / Big Business Tour (With Pelican) (2005)Lambgoat * Blessed Black Wings 2006 Tour (With High on Fire, The Bronx, Buried Inside) (2006)Lambgoat * Fall 2006 Tour (First double-drum tour; With Melvins, Ghostgital, PORN (The Men Of), Joe Lally) (2006) * Winter 2006 U.K./Ireland Tour (With Melvins, Flipper, PORN (The Men Of) (2006) * Here Comes The Waterworks North American Tour (2007)Lambgoat * North American Tour 2007 (With Tool) (2007)Lambgoat * European 2007 Tour (With Melvins, PORN (The Men Of) (2007) * American Fall 2007 Tour (2007) * American Summer 2008 Tour (With Melvins) (2008) * European Fall 2008 Tour (With Melvins, PORN (The Men Of) (2008) * Mind The Drift North American Tour (With Tweak Bird) (2009)Lambgoat * November 2009 Mini-Tour (2009) Lambgoat * Torche / Big Business 2011 Tour (With Torche, Helms Alee, Thrones (2011)Lambgoat * 2012 North American Tour (2012)Lambgoat * 2012 European Tour (With Unsane) (2012)Lambgoat * Melvins Lite European Tour (With Melvins Lite) (2013) * 2014 North American Tour (With The Sword, O'Brother) (2014)Lambgoat * 2014 North American Tour (With Red Fang, American Sharks) (2014)Lambgoat * Mastodon / Clutch North American Tour (With Mastodon, Clutch, Graveyard) (2015)Lambgoat * 2015 Fall U.S. Tour (With Melvins) (2015) * 2015 European Tour (With Melvins) (2015) * 2016 North American Tour (Canceled) (2016)LambgoatFacebook * Fall 2016 North American Tour (2016)Facebook * Command Your Weather European Tour 2017 (With Whores) (2017)Lambgoat * Summer Safari Tour (2017)FacebookAccessed 10 November 2017 * West Coast Tour 2018 (2018)Big Big Biz * September North American Tour 2018 (With Red Fang) (2018) * Book of Bad Decisions Tour 2019 (With Clutch) (2019) * The Beast You Are Spring Tour (2019)Big Business Facebook * 2019 North American Tour (With Sleep) (2019)Big Business Facebook * 2020 West Coast Tour (With Death Eyes) (2020)Big Business Facebook * 2020 European Tour (2020) External Links *Bandcamp *2015 interview via Echoes and Dust *2009 Interview *2009 interview *2012 interview via The aquarian *I Ate Fifty Eggs! * References [[Category:Band] Category:Sludge Metal Category:Stoner Metal Category:Seattle Category:Washington Category:USA Category:Big Business Category:Heavy Metal Category:Jared Warren Category:Coady Willis Category:2003 Category:Heavy Rock